Trial under way for former Broomfield gymnastics coach accused of sexual assaulting teens

Mother testifies son turned away from gymnastics, which had been a passion

The first day of the trial for a former Broomfield gymnastics coach accused of sexually assaulting two boys on Tuesday included testimony from Robert Barke's two alleged victims and the mother of one of the then-teen boys, who said her son's experiences led him to completely turn away from competitive gymnastics, which had previously been a passion.

Barke is accused of sexually assaulting two boys from October 2004 to June 2007 while he was their gymnastics coach at Xtreme Altitude Gymnastics in Broomfield.

The defense plans to call at least three witnesses starting on Wednesday.

Barke pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust, sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust as a pattern of abuse, sexual assault on a child and unlawful sexual contact.

The victims were teens at the time the alleged assaults began. The two, who were both questioned in court Tuesday, are now 21 and 22 years old.

The first witness to take the stand said he first looked up to Barke and felt Barke was someone he could trust and hang out with. It was only after several years that he came to terms with the fact that Barke's behavior was inappropriate, he said.

The witness told the jury that as a teen, he often "crashed" at Barke's apartment because it was close to his new school, and that he had sometimes asked Barke to buy him alcohol.

Barke refused to buy alcohol for the then-underage teen, but did act in a way that was "not normal," he told the jury.

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The witness said Barke offered to share hotel rooms with him when the gymnastics team traveled to places such as Colorado Springs or Las Vegas, he said. On at least two occasions, Barke masturbated in front of him or watched pornography, he said.

During one road trip, the two played truth or dare, and the witness said he "somehow ended up naked" in the car.

The witness said his mother often asked him whether he felt comfortable driving places or sharing a hotel room with Barke, and the witness always said it was OK, he testified.

Several years after the witness quit the gymnastics team, he was contacted by a Facebook friend who had attended the same gym, he said. The two were never friends when they trained at Xtreme Altitude, but became close after they reconnected over Facebook, the witness said.

After hanging out more often, the two realized they had experienced similar advances from Barke, he testified.

Broomfield police became aware of the alleged assaults in February 2013, after being contacted by the mother of one of the victims. Her son confided in her about the abuse, but initially did not want to go to police, because of how difficult it was to process the memories, according to the arrest affidavit.

The victim went to police after learning there was another victim, because he wanted to prevent other people from being abused, the affidavit stated.

The first witness said he got a phone call from his friend, the other victim, to say a police detective would be calling him for information about Barke's actions.

After years of "blocking out" the experiences he had as a teen, he said he knew he had to tell his story.

He told the jury he was in therapy and that new details about his experiences with Barke continued to come back to him.

The second witness said Barke was his coach on and off when he was a teen, and that Barke would help him during private lessons and often drive him home afterward, he said.

The witness told the jury he had a good relationship with Barke until his actions became sexual. The witness said he had about seven sexual encounters with Barke, which included encounters at the gym, the gym's office and Barke's apartment.

Those encounters sometimes involved kissing, touching or masturbation, he said.

The witness' mother also testified in court Tuesday. She said her son was a competitive gymnast who spent lots of time at Xtreme Altitude and looked up to "Rob."

Suddenly, her son told her he no longer loved gymnastics.

"He totally changed," she said.

The mother said she thought the change in attitude was because the family had moved to a new state. When the family moved back to Colorado a year later, she encouraged her son to re-enroll in gymnastics classes at Xtreme Altitude.

It wasn't until a few years later that her son told her about his sexual experiences with Barke, she told the jury.

The mother decided to call a crisis hotline and report the situation to authorities, even though her son repeatedly told her not to tell anyone.

Both the mother and her son testified that he finally decided to break the silence because he has younger siblings, and he "didn't want this to happen to them, too."